The equipment programme and army structures have not been the only areas affected by what it is usual to call ‘the peace dividend’. In the somewhat hidden world of military administration, the disappearance of the immediate threat of a major conventional conflict has also had marked consequences, not stated enough, that upset certain habits based on prudence and experience. The fundamental changes undertaken not having quite come to term, it seems useful to reiterate some organisational principles that are in danger of being forgotten. It is not by any means certain that the effectiveness of the Armed Forces and the safekeeping of the State’s interests will be improved by the changes being undertaken.